


Adventures in Microwaving

by UpsideAround



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Carlos is a Dork, Cecil Is a Good Boyfriend, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Science Experiments, Scientist Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale), cecilos - Freeform, microwave, spoiler free, totally adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-12
Updated: 2014-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 03:06:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2294528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UpsideAround/pseuds/UpsideAround
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"After the last experience with a microwave, Cecil had even taped a sign on their new microwave that said, 'Food only. Absolutely no science in this microwave.'"<br/>Or, the story of the many attempts Cecil and Carlos made to find a microwave that would last more than one week.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adventures in Microwaving

**Author's Note:**

> This story was based off of this photo: (http://www.nedmartin.org/v3/amused/_img/no-science-in-this-microwave.jpg)  
> I saw it and I immediately thought, "Yes. This is totally Cecil and Carlos's microwave." so I wrote a story to go along with the picture.

The first time it happened, it wasn’t a problem. Just a mild inconvenience. Cecil had dealt with worse things in the past. 

He had just got home from the radio station. He was late because a _certain_ five-headed dragon was holding up traffic.

Not two seconds after he entered the door, he heard an explosion.

“Carlos?” he called, rushing forward to the source of the sound.

Carlos was in the kitchen, a shocked expression on his face. His hair was tousled and stuck up in random places. He was holding a notebook in one hand, and a (highly illegal) pen in the other. There was scorch marks everywhere, including on the ceiling. The microwave was split in two, and was smoking. A broken Erlenmeyer flask sat in the former microwave, emitting blue fumes.

“Are you okay?” Cecil asked.

Carlos shook himself and grinned. “That was so cool. The explosion was _green,_ Cecil! Do you know what that means?”

Cecil slowly walked toward Carlos, watching his step. He didn’t want to step on any of the aftermath of the explosion. “Uh, no?”

“Neither do I actually, but I’m going to find out! I’ll have to get a new flask, and more of that black goo that the clock in the lab oozes occasionally, and a new microwave of course-“

“Carlos.” Cecil said, smiling softly.

“I don’t even know what that goo is, but it explodes in the microwave, so that’s something. And it exploded green, which probably means that-“

“Carlos.”

“Huh?”

“What were you doing?”

Carlos glanced around the room. “Uh… Science?” He ran his fingers through his (perfect) hair. “This is kind of a mess, isn’t it? I’m sorry, I should clean up this mess-“

“Carlos, it’s okay. We can get a new microwave. Just, no more science in the microwave. Okay?”

Carlos laughed. “Okay.”

 

~

 

Their second microwave didn’t last very long either. Cecil was the one that ruined that one, but in fairness, it had teeth. After it ate his gluten-free oatmeal, he was mildly annoyed, but when it bit Carlos, the microwave had to go. It wasn’t anything crazy, just a nip on the back of his hand, but Cecil didn’t want it to get worse.

Cecil had gotten back earlier than Carlos, so he quickly unplugged the microwave. It struggled and tried to get out of his grip. He opened the window and the microwave must have realized its fate. It bit Cecil’s arm to try and hang on. He wrenched it off and tossed it out the window. He even lit it on fire for good measure.

Later, when Carlos asked why Cecil had a bandage on his forearm, Cecil just shrugged and told him the microwave put up a good fight.

“Are you okay?” Carlos asked, concern filtering in his words. Cecil was just about to respond when Carlos answered his own question. “No, of course not. That could get infected. Hold on.”

Cecil waited as Carlos walked into the other room quickly. He rushed back, carrying a few medical supplies.

“Did you wash it before you bandaged it?” Carlos asked. Cecil shook his head. “Well, that’s first then. Come on.”

Once they were in the kitchen, Carlos turned on the sink. He then turned back to Cecil.

“We need to take this off.” He said, gesturing to the gauze around Cecil’s arm. “It might hurt.”

“Okay.” Cecil said. He started unwrapping it. Carlos reached forward and stilled Cecil’s hand.

“Here,” Carlos took his hand and put it back down by his side. “Let me.”

He unwrapped the bandage slowly. When it started unwrapping over the wound Cecil hissed in pain. Carlos stopped as soon as he felt Cecil flinch.

“You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah. Go ahead.”

Carlos peeled the rest of the bandage off. He inspected the injury. It was much worse than the nip the microwave had given him earlier that day. It didn’t _look_ like it was dirty, or anything that would be a specific red flag for infection. Carlos sighed with relief.

“Well, it doesn’t look too bad. Here.” He tested the water with his hand before gesturing for Cecil to put his arm under the stream. “Rinse that out. I’ll be right 9-back.”

Carlos ran out into the other room before returning quickly with fresh bandages in his hand. Cecil turned off the faucet and turned toward Carlos. Carlos set down the bandages. Cecil held out his arm for Carlos to inspect.

“Looks good.” Carlos said. Cecil reached for the roll and started unraveling it. Cecil rewrapped it around his injury.

“We’re going to need a new microwave.” Cecil noted.

“Yeah.” Carlos leaned forward and kissed Cecil’s forehead. “We are.”

 

~

 

Carlos had a problem. He needed a device that would emit microwave radiation to test if a substance was alive or not. His lab had no such devices. However, he didn’t want to ruin their brand-new microwave. It was black, sleek, and by far the best microwave he’d ever had in his entire life.

Still. This moving crystal he found under his desk intrigued him. He just _had_ to know more about it.

After a bit of self-debate, he shrugged and popped it into the microwave. He grabbed his notebook and unlawful pen before starting the microwave.

Surprisingly, nothing happened. At first. After about 30 seconds, white cracks began to spread down the side of the crystal. Fascinated, Carlos took a step closer to get a better look. It began rocking back and forth inside the microwave, and without any warning, split in two. Green smoke billowed out of it. The smoke started leaking out through the door of the microwave. Carlos quickly hit the stop button before it could get any worse.

Cautiously, he opened the door. The green smoke diffused throughout the room. Carlos franticly waved his hands in front of his face, a futile attempt to be able to see. The fire alarm started screaming. (No, that’s not personification. The fire alarm literally came equipped with a mouth and fully working vocal chords. “The most effective alarm of it’s time” Cecil had said when they got it. “It will never break. Unless you’re rude to it, of course. Then it will most likely just let you die in a fire.” Carlos had been skeptical about getting it.)

“It’s not a fire!” he called out. “Just a bit of science! You don’t have to scream!”

The smoke alarm continued it’s wailing. Coughing, Carlos pulled his shirt in front of his mouth to try and filter the air before stumbling out of the kitchen and out of the house. He pulled out his cell phone from his lab coat pocket and dialed Cecil.

“Carlos?” Cecil asked when he picked up.

“Cecil. Thank god. Okay, how do you turn the screaming smoke alarm off?”

“Just ask it nicely.” Cecil said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Why? What happened?”

“Well, I was doing a bit of science, and the crystal I was testing in the microwave let off a bunch of smoke and the alarm started screaming. I want to get back in there to see what the result was, but there’s a lot of smoke and I can’t concentrate on getting rid of it with that shrieking at me. Anyway, I think the microwave is fine, but we’ll see.”

“You did science in the microwave? Why not your lab?”

“We don’t have a microwave in the lab. Thinking back on it,” Carlos said, running his fingers through his hair, “There’s probably a reason for that.” Carlos sighed. “I’ll see you when you get home.”

“Right.” Cecil said distractedly.

Carlos laughed. “Goodbye, Cecil,” He said affectionately before hanging up.

 

~

 

The microwave survived, in the end. However, its ability to make food did not. The entire interior of it was green after the ordeal, and anything you put in it would come back out tasting slightly like avocados. And unless you really, really liked avocados, (Which Carlos did not) then the microwave was damn near useless.

 

~

 

“So, what are you looking for?” The salesperson asked. 

Cecil exchanged a look with Carlos before responding. “We’re looking for _another_ microwave.”

The man looked startled. “What happened to your last three? I can assure you we’ll provide refunds if the problem was a company error.”

“That’s okay, actually.” Cecil said. “We’ll just be browsing. Thank you for your help!”

 

~

 

After the last experience with a microwave, Cecil had even taped a sign on their new microwave that said, “Food only. Absolutely no science in this microwave. 

However, Carlos had a mental itch. A really bad mental itch. He had a burning curiosity as to what would happen to a CD in a microwave. He even got to the point where he was holding a scratched CD in his hands and was pacing in the kitchen.

“I shouldn’t do it. It could break the microwave.” He murmured to himself.

“Yeah, but it probably wouldn’t.” He reasoned. “And Cecil will never have to know.”

Carlos sighed and turned to walk in the other direction. “Yeah, but you’d tell him at some point.

“But don’t you want to know what happens?” he argued with himself. “Aren’t you just _burning_ to know?”

“I should at least call Cecil first… maybe he’ll okay it?”

“No, he won’t want to go buy another microwave…”

“I’ll text him then.” He said, finally agreeing with himself. He reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He opened his texts to Cecil, which had left off with:

**_Cecil, I need to get a haircut.  
_ **

**No you don’t. Your hair is just fine the way it is.**

**_I’m not getting it cut as short as last time, it’s just a trim. And hair grows back._ **

**Yes, but it grows back slowly! Really really slowly!**

**_Okay, I’m going into the shop now. I’ll talk to you later.  
_ **

**Carlos, don’t go into that shop! They will deprive you of your perfect hair!**

Carlos laughed at the old conversation. He started typing a new message. It read:

_Can I put a CD in the microwave? Does that count as science?_

Cecil’s response came almost immediately.

**Yes.**

Carlos sighed and started heading over to put the CD back in the trashcan when his phone buzzed a second time.

**Go check under your desk in your lab before you throw away that CD.**

“What?” Carlos said aloud. Under his desk? Surely he would have noticed. Stranger things have happened, though. This was Night Vale we were talking about. Maybe it was only something that appeared when you were told it was there. Still puzzled, Carlos grabbed his keys before heading out the door. 

Once he was at his lab, he unlocked the door before flipping on the lights. The room immediately brightened up. He walked over to the corner of the room containing his desk. Carlos sat down in his chair and postured himself as if he was going to work. He felt his foot brush against a box underneath the desk. He pushed his chair back for a better look.

Carlos ducked underneath the desk and dragged it out. He lifted he heavy box and it slammed onto his desk. The flaps of cardboard were covered in tape, but the tape had already been cut. And when Carlos looked into the box, he figured out why.

A half sheet of notebook paper rested on top of whatever was inside the box. Carlos picked it up and read it.

_Carlos,_

_This is for you, and all of your scientific needs._

_Love,_

_Cecil_

Carlos smiled at the note and set it down on the desk, next to the box. He then turned his attention to what was _really_ inside the box. After brushing aside the packing popcorn on top, there was a smooth, white, surface. He reached into the box and pulled out the item.

It was a brand-new microwave. It was certainly the sturdiest microwave Carlos had ever seen, and it hardly even had any buttons. Just the numbers 0-9 and a start/stop button. Carlos knocked the packing-popcorn-filled box off his desk with his elbow and set the microwave down.

And on the front, there was a handwritten note that stated:

_Science only. Absolutely no food in this microwave._

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that commenting is required by the City Council. They see you scrolling past this message. The Secret Police will be at your residence shortly. You have no hope of escaping. Thank you for your cooperation.


End file.
